Chemical Reaction
by Sorceress Fantasia
Summary: Revised. Something's wrong with Duo's chemistry worksheet.


Title: Chemical Reaction 1/1

Author: Sorceress Fantasia

Pairing: 1+2

Warnings: OOC Heero, mild Relena bashing, twisting of a chemistry concept

Standard Disclaimers: Someone outbid me at ebay, so the characters do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners and blah blah blah….you know the rest. Honestly speaking, chemistry isn't exactly my best subject, so if you spot any mistakes, feel free to drop me a line. Thanks!

Note: Call me fastidious, but I couldn't stand seeing all the mistakes in the old piece. So I decided to fine-tune some parts, and this is the result. In fact, I've added new scenes. Enjoy! ^_^

Duo sat at his desk, spinning his pen in sheer boredom. The room was exceptionally quiet for him, a miracle in itself. If it were any other day, the room would be shaking from the full blast of his hi-five set. However, this was hardly a normal school day. It would be more appropriate to name it homework night, for he was currently bogged down with what seemed like a mountain of it.

Risking a glance down at his desk, he sighed when he saw the pile of untouched worksheets staring back. No, he didn't imagine them.

Grumbling, he grabbed his pen and started on the first piece.

'It's impossible for students here to have a life! How can they, when they are given so much to do? I swear, the first thing I do after I take down the base, is to come back and delete all the work files in the school computer!' Duo grinned at that thought.

That good mood barely lasted 3 sheets of paper.

Exasperated, he leaned back against his chair and tilted it on its hind legs. With a sigh, he brought his legs up onto the desk with a thud. Unconsciously, he gazed into the full moon, surrounded by a ring of silvery light. It was a habit of his, to stare into the celestial body for comfort. Unlike people, it was always there. Even though it was hidden during the day, Duo knew the round mass of rock was still there, somewhere in the sky.

The moon, however, had other intentions.

He suddenly wondered, what would his Japanese companion say if he saw the moon. Surely, he would be enchanted as well. 'But then again, Heero can't be seeing it now. Not with that pink harpy fawning all over him.' Duo pouted at the thought.

Relena had arrived in their current school earlier that day, flaunting her father's name to get to Heero in an instant. It was as if she had installed some radar in her so she could detect Heero's whereabouts within… damn. She could find him even if they were on two different colonies.

Frowning at the thought, he clenched his fist till his knuckles turned white. He had pretty much forgotten that he was holding something in his hand, until he heard it break. He unclenched his fist and saw his favorite, or rather, ex-favorite, pen in two separate parts. Sighing, he tossed the pen into a wastepaper basket with exact accuracy.

"Three points!" He muttered. Damn, he *missed* playing basketball with Heero. And they had a game scheduled that afternoon, had Relena not appeared suddenly.

Frowning even harder, he grabbed another pen and continued with his work, swearing to tear down the whole damn school compound as soon as he could.

"Atoms lose or gain electrons in order to gain stability. Depending on where they are located in the periodic table, they form the duplet structure, the octet structure, or the stable structure. For example, lithium has two electrons in the inner shell, and another one in its outer shell. Therefore, it gives that extra electron away to obtain the duplet structure…" Soon, one worksheet was finished.

"One down, fifteen more to go…" He uttered.

By the time he came to the last worksheet, his eyes were half-closed and he had no idea what he was writing half the time.

When he finally finished, he stumbled over to his bed and snuggled under the covers. He didn't even want to think why was Heero still out.

*****

Morning was the usual fare for Duo.

Pulling on his socks while jumping on one foot, he cursed, "Stupid alarm clock! It never works!" Finished with his socks, he jumped into his shoes and headed for the door. Quickly, he dashed out of the room, only to rush back to grab his bag.

Luckily, he was still in time for his first lesson.

Duo frowned when he noticed that Heero's usual seat was empty. 'Where is he? He can't be with Relena still… can he?' He would have been content to think deeper had lessons not started, and his name not called.

*****

Things went by in pretty much the same manner as they would on a normal day. Until Duo's last lesson. Chemistry.

The chemistry teacher had marched in, or perhaps stormed in would be more appropriate, and slammed a stack of worksheets on the desk. There was a simultaneous groan from the students. When she turned her glare to them, however, any sound they would have made died on their lips.

"I've just marked part of your homework, which you all handed in this morning." She started, voice demanding attention. "And I must say that I'm thoroughly disappointed by some of you here. If your name is called out, stay back after class. I want to see you immediately *after* this lesson." With that, she pulled out a slip of paper from the stack she brought in.

"Maryann! Cheryl! Adam! Richard! Steven!" She called, reading off her paper.

The rest of the class was heaving sighs of relief when she suddenly added another name.

"Keith!"

Duo barely stifled a groan as he rolled his eyes.

*****

Class seemed to fly by when one's mind was rather far off. Especially when one's daydream involved one Japanese pilot, some fresh strawberries and a can of whip cream.

"Keith! Keith Bunton!"

Duo jumped, and looked up. "Erm… hi, Miss Fisher?" He flashed what he hoped was a winsome smile, and finally noticed that most of the class were already gone. The ones who stayed behind were the poor unfortunate souls who were called earlier. He included, regrettably.

Said teacher was standing akimbo, eyes boring into him like a nail into wood. She ignored Duo, and went back to her desk. Ordering the students to line up like they were pre-school kids, she picked up the few remaining sheets of paper.

The American boy stood in line, more than a little miffed as he waited for Miss Fisher to finish with the students before him. The queue moved unbearably slow, since she went through every mistake in detail, occasionally screaming and slamming her hand on the rickety desk.

Finally, it was his turn. By then, the faces of the two girls behind him were already a few shades paler. After all, Miss Fisher wasn't called 'The Bitchy Volcano'™ for nothing. Duo shrugged, and went up to the desk. Much to his expectation, she blew up almost immediately after she looked at the paper that seemed as though it had taken a swim in red ink.

"Are you trying to drive me crazy?" She screamed.

'I wish.' But he answered like any good student would, "No, Miss Fisher." He knew that Heero wouldn't like the idea of him getting into more trouble than he was already in.

"Well, if you are, then you'd have to try harder! Take this… crap," She flailed the paper, "and redo the whole damn thing! I want it to see it on my desk in the staff room first thing in the morning! And I want the entire worksheet copied twenty times as well!"

Duo frowned. He didn't bother to acknowledge her and stuffed the paper into his book bag, leaving the classroom for the comfort of his room. 'Try harder? I'm sure I can arrange that to be in my schedule. Count yourself lucky you didn't say 'over my dead body'. Hmph.'

*****

Jumping onto his bed, the braided boy moaned. Surely, there wasn't anything that could beat lying in bed after a day like that! He stretched lazily, and flipped to his side and promptly pouted.

Heero's bed was still empty, and it looked untouched.

'I know something better than lying in bed…' He mused, eyes still gazing at the cold bed at the other side, mind thinking of the master of said bed. Sighing, he sat up. It wasn't like him to 'wallow in misery', as Wufei had once put it. He was meant for all smiles and jokes.

Picking up his book bag that he had thrown haphazardly on the tiled floor minutes ago, he reached for the paper that had earned him an earful. Smoothing out the creases, he began to read. It was a trying task, however, to read all the red comments that virtually adorned every page.

"Why did she get so worked up? It's just a couple of mistakes and spelling errors…" He mumbled, puzzled to say the least. Even though that Fisher volcano was notorious for erupting at nearly everything, it was highly unlikely for anyone to get that mad over such minute blunders.

Then, something caught his eyes and he darted back to the previous question. Unconsciously, he read the question aloud, "In the case of the Group VII elements, also known as the halogens, they become less and less reactive down the group. A more reactive halogen will displace a less reactive halogen from an aqueous solution of its ions. Give an example of the displacement reaction of the halogen, and write the chemical equation." He paused, narrowing his eyes at the bright red arrow pointing at the word 'halogen'.

Frowning, he continued to read his own answer. "duo + heero relenian --- heero duoride. In the above chemical reaction, the cute atom Duo displaces the stupid atom Relena and forms a new compound: Heero Duoride. Therefore, we say that the more enchanting displaces the ugly…" He blinked and read his answer again. And again. And again.

Duo laughed nervously, and suddenly shouted, "Oh my god!"

When he threw up his arms, the paper flew off his hands. It had to be a coincidence when a breeze blew across the room, and the worksheet soared out of the open window. Duo rushed over to grab it, but fell short of a few inches. The paper fluttered off, and flew towards the park directly opposite of the dormitories. The braided boy groaned, and burst out of the door.

*****

According to his watch, only ten minutes had passed, but it felt so much longer. Duo was ready to scream again as he combed the park to no avail. He had to find it! If any of his classmates found it, they would never let him live it down. He shuddered to think what would happen if Calvin, the school bully who especially took a liking to torturing a certain 'braided sissy', found it.

He was about to walk deeper into the park when he felt a hand grab his. Feeling more frustrated than ever, Duo reacted on instincts, and swung his free arm back to deck the person, whoever it was. However, that arm was only to be caught as well.

"Duo."

The braided boy blinked as he recognized the deep voice. "Heero?"

Heero released his arms.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you with Relena?" Duo asked, voice sounding a little colder than he had intended.

"She insisted on taking me to her mansion for tea yesterday, after you left us alone. On the way, we met Trowa. His circus troupe just arrived some time ago. He helped me shake her off, and I found out that he intended to finish our job for us last night."

"Our job?"

"The air base we were supposed to take down tonight."

"You two destroyed it last night? Without me?"

"Apparently, the doctors had given all three of us the mission. Since Trowa had everything already planned out, I went with him. We can leave this school tonight."

"But…! Why didn't you ask me along?"

"The base wasn't well equipped. Two gundams were enough."

Duo frowned. "You just didn't want me to go."

Heero ignored his accusation, and grabbed his arm again. "Let's go back and pack." And he pulled Duo along.

*****

'He thinks I'm a nuisance. That's why he didn't call me last night.' Duo thought angrily, stuffing his belongings into his beaten duffle bag. 'What a partner. To think I lov…'

"Duo."

"What?" Duo spun around, voice carrying irritation.

Heero pushed something towards him. "Is this yours?"

He felt his heart miss a beat, and snatched the familiar paper away. Bingo. It was the chemistry worksheet that had flown off into the park earlier. He had nearly forgotten about it.

"I found it earlier, before meeting you in the park."

Clutching it tightly to himself, Duo risked a glare at the Japanese boy. "Did you read it?"

There was a silence, and Duo thought Heero would never answer. He surprised him when he did.

"Yes. And I noticed something."

"…What?" Duo asked warily, more out of fear than worry.

Heero said nothing, but smirked instead. Duo gulped.

"Heero duoride?"

Duo's jaws fell off. "Wait a sec! I didn't mean anything! I was half-asleep when I did this piece of crap, and I didn't know half of what I was writing…" He blabbered, gesticulating wildly.

Duo could have sworn that the world was moving in slow motion as Heero moved towards him. He forced his eyes shut as he saw his friend raise an arm. 'He's gonna beat the crap out of me!'

Seconds passed like hours as Heero's hand reached for Duo's cheeks. However, instead of beating the hell out of him like Duo had expected, the hand landed gently on his face and cupped his cheek. Violet eyes flew wide open and his jaws slackened. To further add onto his shock, Heero gathered the dumbfounded pilot into his arms in a tight embrace.

"You don't have fear me, Duo. I would never hurt you willingly."

"Heero?"

"… I like the way heero duoride sounds."

Duo pulled back, and stared at him. Was this really Heero Yuy?

Seeing his shock, the Wing pilot added, "I've… liked you… since a few days after we first met. But I've never said or expressed it, because I wasn't too sure… which way you swung. After I saw that worksheet, I thought…" Heero lowered his head, and started to move away.

As though acting on instincts, Duo wrapped his arms around Heero. "…I like heero duoride too."

Heero smiled, worried mind finally settled. Looking into Duo's eyes, he teased, "Well, I'm already half-way through your chemical reaction, having dumped Relena aside for you. Shall we continue with the rest?"

Duo seemed to finally understand the whole situation, and ducked his head to hide the hot flush creeping up his face. "You… you decide."

Heero's grin widened, and he lifted his lover off the ground and placed him gently on the bed. Then, he climbed into the sheets beside him, determined to finish their reaction.

*****

"Hey Heero."

A yawn answered him. "Yes?"

"I promised Fisher volcano to try harder to drive her crazy. Help me?"

"I uploaded a virus into her personal computer this afternoon. When it activates, she would wish she were."

"But why would you do that?"

"She's an OZ spy."

"Oh."  
  


"Besides, she was biased against you."

Duo smiled against his lover's chest. "And I promised to delete all the work files in the school computer…"

"Tomorrow. Sleep now."

Duo snuggled deeper into Heero's warmth, and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, only the faint sound of two persons snoring could be heard.

-Owari-

Sorceress Fantasia @ 16th February 2000

Last revised 17th October 2002 


End file.
